Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
What the Internet did for you in 2011
My year-end post for the Harvard Business Review asked the question, What did the Internet do for you this year? In that post, I wrote: Appreciating the moments when our online work and lives just click tells us that all this time we spend online is not a compulsion,...
My 11 most popular blog posts of 2011
29 free or cheap online collaboration software tools for you and your team
Under "fire, pants on", please file my blog post of not two weeks ago, claiming to have seen the light on how to choose online collaboration tools so that you accommodate the least-geeky member of your team. As a philosophy, that lasted for 10 whole days, but as a...
Writing about Motherhood Online
[O]n the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, which liberates you to be a bitch. Not a bitch to others -- ...online mothers' groups are quick to sanction hostility -- but the impatient, imperfect bitch of a mom uses jarred babyfood, disposable diapers and a TV-as...
6 crucial police guidelines for stopping social media vigilantes
Yesterday, Vancouver was treated to the first court appearances by alleged participants in the 2011 Stanley Cup Riots. It was a snapshot of one of the most profound and valuable institutions in our society: a system of justice to which we have collectively delegated...
10 geek gifts for this holiday season
The holiday season sends many of us into the aisles of Best Buy or the Apple Store. We might wander…
How to follow your own principles online
Listen carefully to any twinge of discomfort when you’re online. It’s there to help you learn how to follow your own principles online.
Delete your Klout profile and be more than a Klout score
7 steps to deleting your Klout score, following through on my Harvard Business Review blog post, “The Social Sanity Manifesto”.
Learn to listen online by lurking silently on one social network
Today's practice: Practice your listening skills by choosing one social network where you'll pay active attention, but not actually contribute. My friend Jason Mogus likes to say that we teach what we need to learn. I have long taken this as the single best...
Learning about online graffiti from bathroom graffiti
Today's practice: When you find an online comment or contribution that truly annoys you, put it on your desktop or bulletin board. It's your own personal classroom for learning about difference, and practicing tolerance. When companies, organizations or individuals...
The Harvard Business Review
What the Internet did for you in 2011
My year-end post for the Harvard Business Review asked the question, What did the Internet do for you this year? In that post, I wrote: Appreciating the moments when our online work and lives just click tells us that all this time we spend online is not a compulsion,...
My 11 most popular blog posts of 2011
29 free or cheap online collaboration software tools for you and your team
Under "fire, pants on", please file my blog post of not two weeks ago, claiming to have seen the light on how to choose online collaboration tools so that you accommodate the least-geeky member of your team. As a philosophy, that lasted for 10 whole days, but as a...
Writing about Motherhood Online
[O]n the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, which liberates you to be a bitch. Not a bitch to others -- ...online mothers' groups are quick to sanction hostility -- but the impatient, imperfect bitch of a mom uses jarred babyfood, disposable diapers and a TV-as...
6 crucial police guidelines for stopping social media vigilantes
Yesterday, Vancouver was treated to the first court appearances by alleged participants in the 2011 Stanley Cup Riots. It was a snapshot of one of the most profound and valuable institutions in our society: a system of justice to which we have collectively delegated...
10 geek gifts for this holiday season
The holiday season sends many of us into the aisles of Best Buy or the Apple Store. We might wander…
How to follow your own principles online
Listen carefully to any twinge of discomfort when you’re online. It’s there to help you learn how to follow your own principles online.
Delete your Klout profile and be more than a Klout score
7 steps to deleting your Klout score, following through on my Harvard Business Review blog post, “The Social Sanity Manifesto”.
Learn to listen online by lurking silently on one social network
Today's practice: Practice your listening skills by choosing one social network where you'll pay active attention, but not actually contribute. My friend Jason Mogus likes to say that we teach what we need to learn. I have long taken this as the single best...
Learning about online graffiti from bathroom graffiti
Today's practice: When you find an online comment or contribution that truly annoys you, put it on your desktop or bulletin board. It's your own personal classroom for learning about difference, and practicing tolerance. When companies, organizations or individuals...
OneZero
Rain swag for the farmers market
NameRater: A search tool for evaluating a possible name change
Wanted: a search tool that evaluates the search engine visibility of your prospective married name, or the name you are considering for your baby.
SinglesMob: An app for turning parties into mixers
Envisioning an app that lets you blast your single friends with the news that you are at a party with a lot of single guys (and not enough women) or vice versa.
Take these ideas…please
For the next month, I’m committed to sharing almost every one of my ideas — no matter how valuable, and no matter how terrible.
A bird’s eye view of hashtag diffusion
What's it like to be on a panel with rock stars Peter Shankman, Julien Smith, Chris Brogan and Russell Bowers? For all who have wondered, I can answer that question with a video -- at the same time, answering a question that came in on Twitter during today's panel at...
Help your kids learn with Etsy and the Maker Faire
Tonight Little Sweetie was thrilled to learn that she has been accepted into the Vancouver Maker Faire, a DIY festival we attended last year. She loved it, and immediately wanted to run her own booth, based on her Etsy store, 2 Dots 1 Symbol, which sells emoticon...
Tx is short for f*** you, not thank you
Today's practice: Write your thank yous instead of abbreviating them. Last night, I caught myself on the verge of a profound etiquette violation. A colleague had replied quickly and helpfully to an email I had sent, asking for information, and my breezy reply ended...
Meet Your Pinterest Customer
Pinterest is the social media darling of the month, growing madly and reported to be driving more traffic to third-party…
JSTOR DAILY
Rain swag for the farmers market
NameRater: A search tool for evaluating a possible name change
Wanted: a search tool that evaluates the search engine visibility of your prospective married name, or the name you are considering for your baby.
SinglesMob: An app for turning parties into mixers
Envisioning an app that lets you blast your single friends with the news that you are at a party with a lot of single guys (and not enough women) or vice versa.
Take these ideas…please
For the next month, I’m committed to sharing almost every one of my ideas — no matter how valuable, and no matter how terrible.
A bird’s eye view of hashtag diffusion
What's it like to be on a panel with rock stars Peter Shankman, Julien Smith, Chris Brogan and Russell Bowers? For all who have wondered, I can answer that question with a video -- at the same time, answering a question that came in on Twitter during today's panel at...
Help your kids learn with Etsy and the Maker Faire
Tonight Little Sweetie was thrilled to learn that she has been accepted into the Vancouver Maker Faire, a DIY festival we attended last year. She loved it, and immediately wanted to run her own booth, based on her Etsy store, 2 Dots 1 Symbol, which sells emoticon...
Tx is short for f*** you, not thank you
Today's practice: Write your thank yous instead of abbreviating them. Last night, I caught myself on the verge of a profound etiquette violation. A colleague had replied quickly and helpfully to an email I had sent, asking for information, and my breezy reply ended...
Meet Your Pinterest Customer
Pinterest is the social media darling of the month, growing madly and reported to be driving more traffic to third-party…
THE VERGE
Facebook Reactions: Campaign Edition
The advent of Facebook Reactions has brought forth a remarkable range of suggestions for alternative icons; the endless presidential campaign has produced an ever-growing range of tribute memes. But if we're going to have the reactions we need to survive this campaign...
9 kid-friendly meals for children outside of NYC
The New York Times has posted a roundup of 14 kid-friendly meals that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less….if you have the kind of kid who likes food seasoned with anchovies, cumin or ginger. If, on the other hand, you are raising a child who does not ask to...
Dystopian fiction: What to read when you want to worry
My latest post for JSTOR Daily looks at the value of dystopian fiction to those of us trying to navigate a complicated digital world and an even more confusing future. The post mentions many of my favorite dystopian reads, so I thought I would offer a handy list of...
Why Small Businesses Are Getting LinkedIn Wrong
This piece for The Wall Street Journal’s Report on Small Business looks at the most common mistakes small businesses make on LinkedIn, and how they can do better.